Top 10 Spanish regions to watch

Valdeorras

Bordering Bierzo to the west is Valdeorras – the gateway to Galicia in the east of the region. Like Mencía in Bierzo, white grape Godello is sending ripples of excitement through the UK. Hailed as the “new Albariño” and boasting a similar stone fruit and citrus character, Godello offers notes of apple, peach, apricot and honey, but is creamier and more luscious than its northwesterly cousin in Rías Baixas.

Champion of obscure Spanish grapes, Telmo Rodiguez, is enjoying commercial success in the UK with his Gaba do Xil Godello, represented by Adnams and The Wine Society. The unoaked wine, named after the Sil River that runs through the region, is made from Godello grown on slate and granite soils, and is described by the Wine Society as being “brisk, tense and thirst quenching.”

Not to be outdone by his brother, the aforementioned Alvaro, Rafael Palacios is going great guns with Bodegas Rafael Palacios, where he makes a pair of premium Godellos: the barrel-fermented As Sortes and Louro de Bolo, the former of which has proved so popular, it is now sold on allocation for £35 a bottle through Berry Bros & Rudd.

Described by Berry’s Spanish wine buyer, Simon Field MW, as “the sine qua non of Godello”, Jancis Robinson MW believes the wine “can hold its own against white Burgundies selling at the same price, bearing the structure and precision of a fine Puligny-Montrachet.” Palacios has since gone one better with a single vineyard Godello called Sorte o Soro.

2 Responses to “Top 10 Spanish regions to watch”

Great review of some unknown regions of spain, congrats!
Thanks to help understanding that Spain is much more than Rioja and Rinera Del Duero… Now for the next one, please have a look to Ribera Del Jucar, smallest wine region of spain, right between Mancha and Manchuela, special terroir with only a few producers working with local varieties as Bobal, Moscatel de Grano Menudo, Cencibel and other foreing such Petit Verdot, Merlot, etc that has adapted in an spectacular way showing special tipicity… you want uniqueness? go Ribera Del Jucar.

Interesting & encouraging article, thnx. Also responsible for increased intetest in Spanish wines are articles by wine luminaries such as Jancis Robinson MW & + on a much smaller but longer lived scale, myself, in Cork Talk costa-news.com, now in its 17th year and still promoting all that’s good in the happening world of Spanish wine!